I have recently joined the “house hunters” game and it occurred to me that a real estate purchase has some interesting similarities to an ERP or CRM software purchase. I could buy a stand alone house – much like buying a traditional on-premise software system. In this scenario, I have full control over my investment with lots of flexibility. But I am also responsible for all the maintenance and there could be many unforeseen costs.
Or I could buy a condo – much like buying a hosted/cloud/SaaS ERP software system. In this scenario, someone else is responsible for all the maintenance, I don’t even need to think about it. And agents are quick to point out the benefit of paying a “consistent, predictable monthly cost” for ownership.
Predictable monthly costs sound good- but it raised questions in my mind:
- What if the monthly fees increase dramatically?
- What if there are expensive special assessments we did not include in our budget?
- What if the management company goes out of business, what happens to my investment?
- How much control do I have over changes affecting my investment?
- What do I actually own?
The post 5 Reasons Choosing Hosted vs On Premise ERP Software is Like Choosing Between a Condo or a House appeared first on ERP Software Blog.